Folktales

In Oscar®-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s life-affirming film, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway where they must rely on only themselves, one another, and a loyal pack of sled dogs as they all grow in unexpected directions.

In Norse mythology, the three “Norns” are powerful deities who weave the threads of fate and shape humans’ futures. Today, Pasvik Folk High School in northern Norway aims to produce a similar life-changing effect on its students. “Folktales” tells the timely and heartwarming story of teenagers who choose to spend an unconventional “gap year” learning to dog sled and survive the Arctic wilderness, in hopes of finding connection and meaning in the modern world. Guided by patient teachers and a yard full of heroic Alaskan huskies, they discover their own potential and develop deep relationships with the land, animals and humans around them. Through intimate verité storytelling and exhilarating cinematography, Ewing and Grady examine humans on the cusp of adulthood, finding themselves at the edge of the world.

2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere. Post-film Q&A with Director Heidi Ewing on Sunday night!

About Heidi Ewing:
Heidi’s directing credits include JESUS CAMP (Academy Award nominee), THE BOYS OF BARAKA, 12TH & DELAWARE, DETROPIA, NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU, ONE OF US, ENDANGERED and LOVE FRAUD. Ewing’s debut narrative feature, I CARRY YOU WITH ME was released to critical acclaim by Sony Pictures Classics. Her latest feature documentary, FOLKTALES, premiered at Sundance 2025 and was recently released by Magnolia Pictures. She co-owns Loki Films in Brooklyn.

IMDb Info